Last week, we reported that Denver Public Schools is asking some of its charter schools to take on more special needs students.
This is one of the first systemic efforts in the country to address a long-standing concern about charter schools’ special education services. As the number of special education programs in charter schools grows, officials here have encountered questions about funding, placing, planning, overseeing, and sustaining programs.
That brings us to our question of the week: Should charter schools be asked to serve the same proportion of students with special needs as district-run schools? If so, how much oversight should districts have over these programs and how much flexibility should charters have to create new programs for students with special needs?
Most weeks, we ask readers a question about a timely or timeless question about their experiences in education. Readers who want to share their opinions should leave a response in the comment section below, tweet us @ChalkbeatCO, send an email, or leave a comment on our Facebook wall. Every Friday we round up the responses. Here’s last week’s.